anything?”
Nance eased his way over to Arthur’s side. “Before we get started, I would like to go over a couple of things with you in private.” Arthur grasped the point and turned to his other guest.
“Mr. Garret, do you like to smoke cigars?” Garret was caught off guard for a moment.
“Ah… ah… yes, I Walking over to the coffee table, Arthur picked up a cherry wood humidor and lifted the lid.
Garret grabbed one of the cigars and smelled it. Arthur handed him a cigar guillotine, and Garret snipped off the end. “I’ll show you to the door.” Arthur led Garret across the room toward a pair of French doors.
“The view of the Chesapeake is beautiful from the veranda. I think you will enjoy it.”
Arthur opened one of the doors. “We’ll be out to join you in a minute.” Closing the door behind his guest, Arthur turned and walked back to Nance. “What is the problem?”
“It seems that our involvement in the blackmailing of Congressman Moore is known by someone outside the original group.”
“And who would that be?”
“Jack Lortch, he’s the special agent in-“
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“I know who he is. How did he find out?” Nance glanced toward the veranda and then told Arthur about the confrontation between Garret and Lortch. When he was done, Arthur asked, “And how do you think Mr. Lortch found out?”
“I think that Mr. Garret wasn’t as careful as he should have been.”
“I would concur.” Arthur was not an animated person, but Nance had expected him to display some type of reaction. Instead he got nothing.
“What do you want to do about Lortch?” asked Nance.
Arthur paused for a minute and pondered the question. “For now, nothing. I read his personality profile about four years ago; he’s not the type to go to the press. Besides, the
Secret Service is not in the business of embarrassing the President. In the meantime, tell
Mr. Garret to back off, and I’ll prepare a contingency plan to deal with Mr. Lortch if he presses the point.”
“I’ve already told Garret to back off, and he’s obliged.”
“Have you told him anything about my proposition?”
“No, I only said that you wanted to talk to us. As far as he knows, I’m in the dark.”
“Good.”
“Are you still going to tell him?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You’ve always told me not to trust amateurs.”
“I’ve always told you to trust no one.” Turning and walking across the room, Arthur looked up at the stacks of books that covered an entire wall of the study and sighed.
Nance obediently followed him, saying nothing, just walking quietly two steps behind his mentor. “Mr. Garret has his faults, but he is a highly driven man who will do anything to succeed. He was loose-lipped about the Congressman Moore thing because he didn’t see the risks inherent in not keeping his mouth shut. Thanks to Mr. Lortch, he has learned his lesson. Besides, with someone like Mr. Garret, his ability to keep a secret is directly related to the seriousness of the issue. The more he stands to lose, the more apt he will be to stay quiet. If we up the ante, Mr. Garret will stay quiet.”
“I see your line of logic, but are you sure we need him?”
“Yes, there are some concessions I’m going to want for helping him.”
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Nance nodded his head. “As you wish.”
“Let’s join our friend.” Before going outside, Arthur picked up the humidor and offered a cigar to Nance and then took one for himself.
The two then walked toward the French doors and out into the dark fall night. Garret was standing at the edge of the veranda nervously waiting to be called back inside. He knew Nance was telling Arthur about the problem with Lortch, and he was worried about how Arthur would react. He had heard some scary stories regarding the former black-operations director for the CIA. Arthur Higgins had directed some of the Agency’s most secret operations for almost thirty years before being forced out.
The official reason given for his departure was his age and the fall of the Iron Curtain.
But the whispers in the intelligence community were that he couldn’t be controlled-that he had decided one too many times to run his own operation, independent of executive and congressional approval. Garret turned when he heard the dress shoes of Nance and
Arthur on the brick patio. “How do you like the view?” asked Arthur.
During the five minutes that Garret had been outside, he hadn’t even noticed the great dark expanse of the Chesapeake that was before him.
He glanced over his shoulder to look at it and said, “It sure is a lot bigger than I
